A championship double for Daniel Jenkin, while long distance specialist Lucy Charles wins over the Standard Distance

Recent weather may have caused the 2016 NiceTri Events St. Neots Triathlon to be relocated to nearby Grafham Water, but perfect conditions on race day lead to some hot competition in all senses at the 2016 Triathlon England: National Standard Distance Triathlon Championships.

Best known for his talent in the duathlon format (where he will be representing the Great Britain Elite team at the World Championships next month), Daniel Jenkin came into this race having already won the Triathlon England: National Duathlon Championships at the Stockton Duathlon last month. Exiting the 1.5km opening swim almost three and half minutes in arrears of the speedy Edward Castro, the 2015 British Triathlon Male Age-Group Athlete of the Year, he was going to have to do something special in order to make it a double in Cambridgeshire. While he was able to gain around 90 seconds back on the bike to Castro, he was still significantly in deficit at T2 thanks to Dan Bradshaw setting the fastest bike split of the day.

Once into his running shoes Jenkin was able to use his trump card to full effect. His 33:31 run split was the fastest of the day, a full six and a half minutes faster than Bradshaw (who would finish fourth) and almost four and a half minutes quicker than Castro. Oliver Milk was consistently strong across all three disciplines to take third place overall, just three seconds behind Edward Castro.

The women’s event saw a fine battle between Lucy Charles and Alice Sharpe, both in the 20-24 category. The current World Champion in her Age-Group for both Ironman and Ironman 70.3, Lucy is a former Elite swimmer who regularly gains huge amounts of time over her competition in the water. She headed the swim once again, but Sharpe also excelled in the water, losing just 44 seconds – and then immediately reduced that deficit to 25 seconds thanks to a speedy transition. Setting the fastest bike split of the day, Alice was able to pass Lucy to hold a narrow lead at T2, meaning that it would be all to play for over the final 10km.

Once again, the lead changed hands and this time it was Lucy Charles who proved she has significantly improved her running skills over the winter, closing with a 38:37 split to take the overall title by two minutes from Alice Sharpe. Third place overall went to Emma Dreary (25-29), who set up her race with the second fastest bike split of the day.

The next Triathlon England: National Championship event of the year is the Aquathlon, which takes place as part of the Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds event on Saturday 11 June 2016.

NiceTri Events Standard Distance Triathlon – Grafham Water

Triathlon England - National Standard Distance Triathlon Championships
Sunday 24^th April 2016 – 10km / 40km / 5km

Men

1^st – Daniel Jenkin (RedVenom.co.uk) – 1:50:45
2^nd – Edward Castro (Corley Cycles Tri Team) – 1:53:02
3^rd – Oliver Milk (RedVenom.co.uk) – 1:53:05

Women

1^st – Lucy Charles (Hoddesdon Tri Club) – 2:00:07
2^nd – Alice Sharpe (Manchester Triathlon Club) – 2:02:12
3^rd – Emma Dreary (Stortford Tri) – 2:06:47

Full results: http://www.triathlonengland.org/news/live_timing_standard_champs_6890